Summary
It is critical for managers and supervisors to coach and provide effective feedback to the people who report to them. In this two-day program participants learn techniques and communication skills to coach and counsel people at work. Participants learn to develop and convey a clear sense of vision, mission and work unit goals. They also examine the impact motivational needs have on working relationships and work unit performance. Participants acquire the techniques that will help employees take greater responsibility for results. Finally, participants learn and practice a model for giving and receiving feedback. This model helps participants to conduct coaching and performance review sessions in a way that will enable subordinates to reach agreement on strengths and improvement opportunities and to plan how they will improve performance.

Empowering the entire workforce so that its talents can be leveraged for maximum impact is a crucial element in an organization’s success. Managers who can strategically channel employee performance will tap into a wealth of productivity. The focal point for this process is clearly articulated, measurable goals as well as constructive feedback and performance monitoring based on the established objectives. Energizing employee initiative around the goals builds valuable growth and professional development; communicating performance progress encourages employee commitment to improvement. As a result, managers who adapt their style to the differing motivational needs of employees will establish productive relationships as the key to their success. 

Course Outcomes
Managers who are able to measure progress and its individual components will be more effective in managing performance improvement. By increasing their understanding and knowledge as well as improving their communication skills and abilities, participants will learn to coach their employees to perform better in their respective positions. In this program, managers will:

• Increase their own effectiveness in providing constructive feedback, both in informal coaching situations and in formal performance reviews;
• Develop a feedback model to assist them in reaching agreement with others on their strengths and improvement opportunities;
• Identify techniques for helping employees take personal responsibility for performance improvement;
• Asses personal supervisory/management practices and the impact those practices are having on the motivation and productivity of their direct reports; and
• Develop and implement performance improvement plans. 

Individual and small group exercises focus on the manager’s task of creating a high-performance climate and challenging, attainable goals. Exercises help managers identify varied motivational needs of their people and use strategic job assignments and management practices to meet those varying needs. A strategic feedback model using an actual participant situation is taught which can be used both in coaching situations as well as in formal performance reviews. Participants apply this model to their employees in their work unit.